Members receive access to a range of exclusive benefits such as events at the UN and across the United States, as well as opportunities to advocate, host Model UN conferences, and connect young professionals to UN experts.

New York (July 15, 2015) – The United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) and the U.S. Department of State are now accepting applications for the U.S. Youth Observer to the UN for the 2015-2016 term. The program gives one U.S. citizen age 18 to 25 the opportunity to: see the United Nations in action during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York; attend high-profile UN events throughout the year; and report his or her experiences to U.S. officials, peers, and the world.

New York (July 15, 2015) – The United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) and the U.S. Department of State are now accepting applications for the U.S. Youth Observer to the UN for the 2015-2016 term. The program gives one U.S. citizen age 18 to 25 the opportunity to: see the United Nations in action during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York; attend high-profile UN events throughout the year; and report his or her experiences to U.S. officials, peers, and the world.

NEW YORK (May 14, 2015) – Today, 1,600 high school students from around the world have joined together for the United Nations Association of the USA’s (UNA-USA) Global Classrooms® International Model UN Conference. The opening ceremonies, with a keynote by UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, are being held in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations.

Twenty years after the Beijing Platform for Action, the world has reduced the number of primary school age children that are out-of-school from 100 million to 58 million and decreased the percentage of girls that are out-of-school by 10%.[1],[2] That’s great progress, but back in 1995 the writers of the platform aimed to completely close the gender gap by 2005 and to provide universal primary education in every country before the year 2015.[3] Although these may have been lofty goals, an important question we should still ask is “where did we fall short?”

The United Nations has been influential in shaping the current global policy framework on women’s empowerment and gender equality. The last of these significant milestones took place twenty years ago. In 1995, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action crowned the series of 4 “World Conferences on Women” that took place across four continents in the two decades prior.

Sheryl Samberg argued that women need to “sit at the table” where decisions are made. At the 59th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW59), many women sat at the table. In fact, mostly women sat at the table. At some events, only women sat at the table. Most of the officials, representatives of nongovernmental organization, panel speakers and participants were women. Where were the men? Where were the intersex people?

Talking to fellow young women is easy. We have lived through similar experiences, we share common cultural references. There is a sense of camaraderie that arises immediately when you meet a young woman at a place like CSW, when you know that a shared passion for gender equality and women’s rights brought you to this common place at this common time. After two weeks at CSW, I have met wonderful young women that I will stay in touch with. We will continue to share experiences and talk about our common passion, and discuss the challenges we face as young women in today’s world.

The 21st century has been hailed as the century of women. Yet a recent Google search shows just how much prejudice and discrimination towards women and gender equality persist. Women still bear the brunt of poverty, war, disease, and famine. Women and girls are done with the rhetoric. They want meaningful action and implementation now.

Throughout her different engagements during CSW 59, Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has repeated time and time again: AGENCY MATTERS. In the fight for gender equality and women’s rights, one person can make a difference in bringing change to their school, their community, their cities, and their countries. It is for this reason that the gender equality agenda focuses on the need to create the necessary spaces and conditions for women to become political leaders, and while there have been many victories since the Beijing Declaration in 1995, the challenges to being a woman in a political leadership position remain such that the gap is far from being breached.

NEW YORK (March 26, 2015) – Today, 1,600 middle school students from around the world will join together at UN Headquarters for the United Nations Association of the USA’s (UNA-USA) Global Classrooms® International Middle School Model UN Conference. This three-day conference is the only international Model UN conference designed specifically for students in grades 5-8, and it is the largest middle school Model UN in the world.

From March 9-20, 2015, 1,100 organizations and nearly 9,000 individuals from across the globe will have descended upon the United Nations Headquarters in New York City for the 59th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). During this time, 188 UN side events and hundreds of parallel events will be hosted in and near the UN to discuss the past, present, and future implementation and challenges of achieving gender equality and women's empowerment around the world.

At the UNCSW 59, an event organized by BASIRA (British Arabs Supporting Universal Women’s Rights) and UN Women UK covered the issues of honor based violence (HBV) as a form of abuse which is at the discretion of cultural and societal norms that perpetuate violence through systemized and institutionalized misogyny.

This was my fifth year participating in the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), held each year in March at the United Nations. This year was particularly important as it not only is a review of progress made over the past 20 years in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action developed in 1995 at the historic Fourth World Conference on Women, but also focuses on opportunities for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women in the post-2015 development agenda. 2015 is quite a milestone year for women since it is also the 15th anniversary of UN SCR 1325 that urges the increased participation of women in all aspects of peacebuilding and incorporation of gender perspectives in all peace and security efforts.

This year, I have the privilege of attending the 59th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York. Here, I am a delegate representing the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), a membership organization dedicated to inform, inspire, and mobilize Americans to support the work and ideals of the UN. As such, I wanted to first write a post shedding some light on what CSW actually is, why it is important, and some of the challenges.

Quite a few attendees of the 59th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York this week are questioning the number of panels revolving around Men and Boys. Each day of the commission so far has had several official side events about how to engage men and boys in the fight for gender equality, and explanations are varied. Responses to them have been quite controversial.

The past few days have been inspiring. On Sunday, International Women’s Day, my sister and I went to the NGO Forum Consultation Day, where speakers including UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka set the stage for CSW59 by pointing to the problems left behind 20 years after Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. I especially loved Mlambo-Ngcuka’s point that we cannot create gender equality by teaching women to live within our patriarchal society.

On Saturday, 7 March, a day before International Women’s Day, a group of young women under the age of 30 woke up early in the morning, braved the New York City winter cold and met at the Armenian Center for the first ever Young Women and Girls Forum at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) organized by the World YWCA and sponsored by UN Women, Packard Foundation, Christian Aid, NORAD, DFAT, Bread for the World, and WAGGGS. What motivated these young women to spend their Saturday in a conference room instead of exploring New York City? Their commitment to women rights, gender equality, and justice.

To John Whitehead (1922-2015), the words “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” were more than just a passage from the UN Charter. Whitehead, who would later serve as Chair of the United Nations Association of the United States (UNA-USA), learned the importance of those words while piloting a landing craft on D-Day at Omaha Beach.

Richard Diesing, former UNA-NY Chapter President, passed away on Tuesday December 16, 2014. Born in Springfield, IL, May 7, 1925, he passed away peacefully from Alzheimer's at Jewish Home Lifecare, Manhattan. Educated at Concordia Lutheran High School, St. Paul, MN; Concordia Lutheran Seminary, St. Louis; University of Chicago.

On December 19, 2014 the UNA-USA Leo Nevas Human Rights Task Force sent a letter to President Obama concerning the release of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program.